MOVING AWAY FROM TRADITION: PORTRAYAL OF MODERN WEREWOLVES AND VAMPIRES IN THE TWILIGHT SAGA

Resumo

Many writers have shown their preoccupation with and interest in the representation of the fantastic body over the past centuries. The figure of the vampire, werewolves, and zombies keep coming back in those works although today’s monsters are humanized. In Contemporary Young Adult fantasy, readers are presented with characters that usually adapt to the real world. The fantastic body does no more refer to psychosexual dysfunction but generates mainly from socioeconomic and cultural malaise (Badley, 17-18). In other words, the fantastic becomes a virtual reality that symbolizes the changing ‘self’ within the postmodern era though contemporary literature has transcended the actual environment as it copes with technological advancement. Unlike other fantasy fiction, Meyer has focused on traditional fantastic creatures originating in folklores and myths; they are an integral part of the fantastic as they cross lines between natural and supernatural elements. The present paper aims at addressing the representation of body transformations into vampires and werewolves in Stephenie Meyer’s The Twilight Saga. It will evaluate body metamorphosis into vampires and werewolves discovering new dimensions of one’s own identity and personality. It will further demonstrate how Meyer has succeeded in creating her own monsters without untying some of the mythical substratum.